page_title: Swedish American Line
section_title: 1952–1962
hierarchical_section_title: Swedish American Line / History / 1952–1962
caption_attribution_description: M/S Gripsholm med Stadsgårdskajen i Stockholm 1958
context_page_description: Swedish American Line is a Swedish passenger shipping line. It was founded in December 1914 under the name Rederiaktiebolaget Sverige-Nordamerika, beginning ocean liner service from Gothenburg to New York in 1915. In 1925 the company changed its name to Svenska Amerika Linien / Swedish American Line.
  The Swedish American Line was amongst the first companies to build liners with provisions for off-season cruising, as well as the world's first company to build a diesel-engined transatlantic liner. Increased operational costs and stronger competition from aeroplanes forced the company to abandon passenger traffic in 1975, but cargo operations continued until the 1980s.
context_section_description: The new ship under construction at De Schelde was launched on 18 October 1952 and named MS Kungsholm, becoming the third SAL ship to bear the name. The new Kungsholm was delivered on 30 September 1953, and set out on her maiden voyage from Gothenburg on 24 November 1953. Following the Kungsholm's delivery the Stockholm was rebuilt with larger passenger accommodations. Coinciding with the completion of the Stockholm's refit, the ageing Gripsholm was sold to the North German Lloyd, becoming their MS Berlin. On 14 September 1954 SAL ordered another new ship, essentially an enlarged version of the most recent Kungsholm, from the Ansaldo shipyard. The new ship was named MS Gripsholm (the second ship to bear that name in the SAL fleet) and launched on 8 April 1956.
  On 25 July 1956 the Stockholm collided with the SS Andrea Doria outside Nantucket in one of the most famous maritime disasters of the 20th century. 47 people on the Andrea Doria were lost, while five members of the Stockholm's crew were lost in the collision. Several of the Andrea Doria's passengers were rescued by the Stockholm. She was able to return to New York under her own power, and was subsequently repaired at Bethlehem Steel, returning to service on 5 November 1956. On 14 May 1957 the new Gripsholm started on her maiden voyage from Gothenburg to New York. For the next three years the company operated with three ships. In May 1959 the Stockholm was sold to VEB Deutsche Seereederei, East Germany, with a delivery date on 3 January 1960, becoming their MS Völkerfreundschaft.
caption: The 1957 Gripsholm in Stockholm, photographed by Gustaf W. Cronquist.
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